Saving the Planet . . . One Lip Gloss at a Time

January 27, 2010

About 2 weeks ago, Camry asked me if we could make lipgloss at home.

I'll be honest, I wasn't thinking this was a good idea.

First of all, I was pretty sure we didn't have the ingredients at home--which meant a trip to the store. Probably a couple of stores.

And second of all, it seems like my experience with the whole "ESTSY" movement is that it costs a heck of a lot more to make some things at home than it does to purchase them.

Take for example, soap. I usually buy bars of Dove soap at Costco for something like $9.00 for a case of 12. When I made the granola version of that soap a few years ago, thinking I was all Little House on the Prarie, it cost me about $250.00 for 36 soaps-- soaps that gave the kids a rash. (Not kidding on the $250. I thought I'd make soap for every person I knew. I bought molds, soap chips, glycerin, essential oils, and more.)

So, like I said, when Camry asked about making lipgloss at home, I was thinking, "That sounds like a lot of time and money. We will probably end up with a tiny chapstick-sized container that cost us $35.00."

(And yes, I feel horrible for admitting any of the above. I've seen the Visa commercials. I get that some experiences in life are "priceless." But for some reason, this wasn't feeling like one of those moments.)

Wow--was I ever wrong.

Because yesterday was lipgloss manufacturing day here on Hysteria Land. And it was AWESOME!

You see, somehow Camry wore me down. So even though I was not really feeling the whole cosmetic-making vibe, I had to give it a shot. (For the last two weeks Camry had been collecting the essential ingredients, including a library book with a lipgloss recipe/directions. For my part, I found these acrylic lipgloss containers at Sally's Beauty Supply for storing the finished product. I'd been pushing for Cam to use an old contact case--"Reuse, Renew, Recycle" being my theme and all. She was medium on that--"What if the contact stuff is in the plastic still?" Oh, sure, get all FDA on me, Cam.).

Anyway, back to my point: Yesterday the stars were aligned and we were ready to make some lipgloss. (I should note here that Cam could not have been more excited. BTW--This should have been reason enough for me to do this project 2 weeks ago.)

The funniest part of this whole event/undertaking:

it took Camry all of 5 minutes to make one "batch" of lipgloss. Here I was stressing on the potential time-suck, the mess, the cost, the stains in our clothes, global warming, my pancreas, your pancreas, Ray's math problem that stumps me every week . . . and it only took 5 minutes!

So EVERY one of my concerns was for naught. (That's a weird way of saying "I was wrong." No?)

I think we may have even found our 2010 "friend" Christimas gifts for the girls. So. Not. Kidding. (Heck, this may be our "neighbor" gift for 2010. We love the final product that much.)

And my favorite part of the event/undertaking:

when Camry finished her first batch and said, "It's probably better for us to make our own lipgloss anyway, mom, then we know what's in it and we know no one was hurt making it."

"Right mom?"

Chirp. Chirp. [Me, eating humble pie in the corner.]

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This sounds so cheesy, but it's true, Camry makes me a better person.

I feel like I'd be Dawn Version 1.0 if I weren't a parent (and clearly I need a lot of revision--because 6 kids = lots of lessons/learning/revision.).

Hopefully the next time one of the kids has a fun idea I'll remember this experience and NOT WAIT 2 weeks to act on it (Or upon it. Potato. Potatto.).

Love you Camry (and gang). Thank you for teaching us girls how to make lipgloss (everyone got to make 5 containers yesterday).

PS: I think it cost us less than $10.00 to make 20 containers of lipgloss. And they ROCK. The glitter and vanilla give it that little something extra! (Elle Woods, anyone?).